


Denial - The Sequel

by NarryMusings



Series: Denial, The Series [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Louis is the supportive best friend, M/M, Narry - Freeform, Niall finally has his shit figured out, harry cries a lot, narry storan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-31 05:54:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3966868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryMusings/pseuds/NarryMusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry deals with the aftermath of his and Niall’s maybe-breakup. Niall is finally ready to come out with Harry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Denial - The Sequel

**Author's Note:**

> This is part three!

Harry comes to to the smell of fresh coffee and the sound of Louis’ bedroom door creaking open. Bare feet slap gently against the wood floor and Harry has half a mind to pull the sheet over his head. Instead, however, he clutches the hem of the sheet under his chin and looks up at Louis from under heavy eyelids just as Louis sets one mug on the bedside table and cradles the other in both hands. He groans grumpily as Louis crawls onto the bed, over Harry’s lump of a body and settles himself behind Harry, his back against the wall.

“I dunno how you drink that shit, mate,” Louis says casually. “It’s way too strong for my liking.”

Harry rolls his eyes, pushes himself up to rest his shoulders against the headboard before reaching out to take the mug in both hands. He doesn’t always drink coffee but he reckons he’ll need it a bit more than usual today considering he’s lucky if he even got three hours of sleep. “Thanks,” he murmurs.

Louis nods but remains silent, like he’s waiting for Harry; he’s there to listen if Harry feels the need to talk or just sit there in silence if Harry decides he doesn’t want to.

Harry sighs; talking about it is both the thing he wants more than anything and the thing he wants to avoid more than anything. He drops his head back against the headboard with a soft thud as he stares up at the ceiling. “Niall and I have been – or, we  _were_  – seeing each other,” he murmurs. His voice is rough, having cried his throat raw after climbing into bed with Louis. He knows he doesn’t actually have to say it, knows that Louis heard his muffled sob of a  _I’m pretty sure I just broke up with Niall_  but he feels like he needs to say it out loud. “Well not  _seeing_  each other; I _thought_ we were seeing each other but I think we were just…fucking.”

“I know.”

 

Harry’s gaze snaps downwards and collides with Louis’, taken aback and a bit confused. “Y-you do? How?”

 

Louis shrugs. “I always knew you had a bit of a thing for him. And I know you guys have always sort of lived in each other’s back pockets, but lately it’s been, like, twice as noticeable. I mean, you haven’t slept in your own bed in  _ages_ , Harry. Plus, I went over to get something of mine from Niall and he sent me down to his room to get it myself because he was too lazy and I couldn’t help but notice that half the clothes in his hamper belonged to  _you_  – and I know the two of you have always shared clothes every now and then but I know for a fact that he hadn’t worn those clothes because I’d seen  _you_ wearing them.”

Harry blinks, swallows the nervous lump in his throat. “You never said anything.”

“I figured if you hadn’t already told any of us then there had to be a reason,” Louis explains.

Harry snorts, rolling his eyes bitterly. “Yeah – and I’m still not even 100 per cent sure why.”

Louis frowns, leaning forward to rub soothingly at Harry’s blanket-covered knee. “Does that have something to do with why you crawled into my bed this morning?”

“I’m just…” Harry sighs again, trailing off as he looks away from Louis and down into his mug. “I’m tired of hiding, Lou.”

Silence falls between them whilst Louis squeezes gently at his knee.

“Like, I know coming out is a big deal for him,” Harry starts to explain absentmindedly. He can already feel the weight lifting off his shoulders. “Especially because I’m the only guy he’s ever been with, and I know he’s got commitment issues – and I was ok with all of that at first. I didn’t like it sometimes – especially when he continued to sleep with random girls, but then he told me he no longer wanted to be with anybody else and it started to feel less like we were just friends with benefits and more like we were in an actual relationship. I thought we were getting somewhere. I thought…I thought we were finally on the same page.”

“What happened last night, then?”

“It’s actually what happened  _two_  nights ago.”

“ _Two_? Jesus, Harry.”

Harry takes his first sip of his coffee, relishes in the taste of it as well as in the warmth is spreads throughout his whole body. He lowers his mug, cradles it between both hands in his lap and continues to stare at it. “He told me he loved me-“

Louis jumps, then – and nearly spills his own tea in the process. He stares at Harry, wide-eyed and incredulous. “He what?!”

Harry shakes his head, lifting his gaze to meet his friend’s. “Not – I mean, not like that. It’s not – it was during sex. I didn’t think anything of it at first but then he said it again and then I asked him to say it a third time and…and then  _I_  said it. It wasn’t, like, special or anything but it happened and that’s all I cared about, you know? And then his mum showed up yesterday morning and he told her I slept in the _guest room_  like we aren’t – like we didn’t just-” He cuts himself off. His voice is starting waver and his bottom lip is just starting to tremble and he can feel the tears burning the backs of his eyes. His chest feels tight and it’s like his heart is breaking apart all over again. “They wanted me to spend the day, like I normally  _would_ ,” he continues a moment later, “but I couldn’t so I left and then we got into a fight because he couldn’t understand why I was upset. And then he showed up really early this morning and we sort of got into another fight and he couldn’t – I didn’t need him to make an announcement, I just wanted him to tell his  _mum_  and he couldn’t choose that over losing me.”

"So that’s it? It’s over between you?”

Harry shrugs. “We want different things – or, I dunno, maybe we want the same thing but I’m just the only one who wants it enough to stop denying it. And I can’t…I can’t be his secret anymore. I can’t live in denial.”

“And you shouldn’t have to, Harry,” Louis assures him gently.

Harry lets out a shaky breath as he moves to place his mug back on the bedside table and then presses the heels of his hands against his eyes. There’s a sob bubbling in his throat as he curls in on himself, towards Louis. “Fuck, Lou, this is so hard,” he mutters.

Louis reached out immediately to place his own mug beside Harry’s before gathering him into his arms. “I know,” he whispers, rubbing his hand up and down Harry’s back. It seems like it was only moments ago that Harry had finally stopped crying long enough to drift sleep.

X

His stomach is in knots, his palms – which he’s thrust into both front pockets of his jeans - are sweating and he can hear his heart beating rapidly in his ears. The conversation he’d had with his mother, just hours earlier, echoes in Niall’s head as he waits, with bated breath, for the all-too familiar door to be answered.

_What do I say, mum? How do I fix this?_

_Just tell him exactly how you feel, love. Tell him everything you’ve never said before._

The door swings open, revealing a tired-looking, slightly ruffled Louis. “Hey.”

Niall’s gaze slides immediately to look behind Louis. “Is he here?”

“You can’t see him.”

“Lou-” Niall tries; Louis cuts him off.

Louis sighs as he leans against the doorframe and pulls the door closed slightly. “He doesn’t want to see you right now, Nialler,” he says softly.

Niall blinks. “I just – I have to talk to him.”

“I know. He just…he literally just stopped crying. He’s exhausted and the last thing he needs right now is to talk about it.”

The blond nods solemnly and runs a hand through his hair as he kicks, rather absentmindedly, at the carpet in the hallway.

“If you’ve come to break his heart-”

“I haven’t,” Niall says quickly, cutting him off. “Of course I haven’t.”

“ _Of course_?” Louis asks, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “You literally broke his heart  _yesterday_ , Niall-“

“I know,” Niall whispers, flinching slightly as he closes his eyes against the accusation.

“You know how much he loves you; how much he’s  _always_  loved you,” Louis says – and Niall bows his head. “He’s fucking mad for you and he deserves someone who’s going to be just as mad for him.”

"I  _am_ , Tommo,” Niall insists. “I just-“

"Then you need to be ready to prove it. You need to be  _ready_ , period.”

Niall nods once and sneaks once more glance behind Louis but there’s no sign of Harry anywhere. He looks at Louis again – but he can’t shake the feeling that Harry isn’t far away. “Look, just…please just tell him I came by? And that we need to talk?”

Louis nods sincerely.

"And tell him I love him,” Niall adds, his voice only slighter louder than before, before he turns to leave.

+

Hiding around the corner from the front hall, behind the wall, Harry hears every word.

X

Harry’s lying with his head under the covers, the light from his phone illuminating his face as his thumb hovers over the keyboard, contemplating whether or not he’s ready to type out a text message to Niall. He  _wants_  to. He wants there to be communication between them – especially after Niall had shown up here, unannounced, to see him. Hell, he  _always_  wants to talk to Niall. And he’s just about to type something out – a simple “hi” would suffice, he’s sure, when Louis comes barging into his bedroom.

“Check Instagram,” is all he demands before leaping onto Harry’s bed.

“What?” Harry asks, confused, as he fumbles to close his messages.

 

“Check Niall’s Instagram,” Louis repeats, pulling at Harry’s covers.

Harry groans when Louis gets the blanket off his head. His hair is a mess, all over the place, and he has to push the curls out of his face. “Why?”

“Just – don’t doubt me, alright? Check it,” Louis insists.

Harry does as he’s told, opens his Instagram app and then waits a few seconds for it to load. His breath catches in his throat and he’s pretty sure his heart forgets how to beat when the first picture on his timeline, which just happens to be Niall’s, loads. It’s a picture of the two of them, tangled and intertwined in the blankets and pillows across Niall’s bed. He remembers taking that photo weeks ago; the sun had been shining through the window, directly onto the bed and Harry had spent nearly 10 minutes encouraging Niall to just take  _one_  post-sex selfie of the two of them. (Niall must’ve broken into Harry’s phone and sent it to himself without Harry’s knowledge because, last he checked, the picture was snapped on his own phone.)

Niall’s smiling in the photo, his blue eyes shining brightly in the sunlight, cheeks flushed a light pink from the orgasm he’d just experienced. Harry’s got his eyes closed and his lips pressed firmly against the side of Niall’s cheek – and it’s all incredibly cliché. But they look  _happy_.

“Read the caption,” Louis tell him, like he knows that Harry’s gaze has yet to leave the picture itself.

Harry lets his gaze fall to the words directly beside Niall’s profile name:  _I’m ready when you are @harrystyles_

He freezes, blinks down at the screen for a moment. His heart suddenly feels like it’s going to beat out of his chest and his stomach jumps into his throat – because what the fuck. He looks up at Louis, then, who’s smirk says it all – and then he practically leaps out of bed, gets himself dressed and grabs his keys off the top of his dresser. All the while, Louis sort of cheers him on.

X

The knock at the front door startles Niall out of his thoughts and he tears his gaze away from his phone where it’s sat on the coffee table, silent, to glance back over his shoulder at the door. He’d only posted the photo just over an hour ago; supposes he could give it a little while longer before he moves on to Plan B for catching Harry’s attention.

He pushes himself to his feet, then, and leaves his phone on the table as he walks towards the door. His bare feet slap against the hardwood floor and he yawns, rubbing the back of his neck as he reaches for the doorknob. He could swear he’d given him mother a key…

He pulls the door open – and everything freezes, including time. His breath catches in his throat, his heart beats hard and loud in his chest and his stomach feels like it’s going to fall out of his butt. He licks his lips, blinks at the boy standing in front of him. “Hey…” he murmurs, trailing off as he leans his body weight against the edge of the door.

“Hi,” Harry whispers back, both hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans. “Is your mum around?”

Niall arches an eyebrow, can’t help the teasing comment that slips through his lips. “You’re looking for me mum right now?”

Harry shrugs, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Not really.”

Niall steps aside, then, opening the door wider to let Harry in to the front hall. “She went shopping a little while ago,” he replies, closing the door behind them. He’s about to continue, more out of nervousness than anything, when Harry throws himself at Niall, kissing him and backing him further into the flat. Niall’s words are swallowed by Harry’s mouth - and forgotten the moment Harry swipes his tongue across Niall’s teeth.

They stumble across the floor, Harry guiding Niall, rather poorly, back towards the living room. The backs of Niall’s knees hit the edge of one cushion on the couch right before falls back onto it. Harry follows, fingers buried in Niall’s hair and lips attaching to little spot that drives Niall mad under his jaw as he straddles Niall’s thighs.

“Stop – Haz, stop,” the blond pants, pushing gently at Harry’s shoulders. Harry lets himself be pushed back and he lifts his gaze to meet Niall’s. “We need to talk. Well, I need to talk and you need to listen because there are things I need to say and I need to say them before this goes any further,” Niall explains softly. “You deserve to hear them.”

“Ok,” Harry nods, before crawling off Niall’s lap and falling into back of the couch beside him.

Niall looks at him, breathes him in. It’s been less than a day since he last  _saw_  Harry and yet, somehow, it feels like it’s been longer; like it’s been  _too long_. And lot has happened since then. There’s been a lot of things that Niall has come to terms with, that he’s finally let himself acknowledge and believe. “I love you,” he says softly, his gaze locked with Harry’s. Harry’s eyes flicker with his own emotion, with the recognition of having heard it before. “I know I could’ve chosen a better time – a better  _way_  – to say it for the first time but it’s true. I love you. And I…I reckon I always have,” he admits. He sees the way Harry’s chest expands with the long, deep breath he takes in response.

He can tell that Harry wants to respond, can tell he wants to speak - but now that he’s started he doesn’t want to stop, just in case he won’t be able to start back up again. So he continues before Harry can say anything and his gaze never leaves Harry’s; it never falters. “When you kissed me, that first time, I was 16 and I was scared of falling in love and – and at first I thought it was just you messing around, you know? And then I realized you weren’t but I still couldn’t…I just ignored whatever it was I thought I was feeling b’cause I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. And then I just got really, really good at hiding it…

“When New Year’s happened and…you started talking about it, I couldn’t fucking think straight and then Barbara was there and… It’s not that I didn’t want to kiss you, I just…I was fucking terrified, Harry. I spent three years ignoring  _everything_  and thinking it didn’t even matter anymore and then there you were, wanting me to kiss you and – and Barbara was just the safer choice, you know? Plus she was just sort of  _there_  and-” He cuts himself off, runs a shaky hand through his messy hair. “Then after we hooked up that first time it was like I panicked. ‘s why I left to get breakfast; to give myself some time to think about what the fuck we were gonna do – what  _I_  was gonna do. And I just didn’t want anything to change, you know, so I thought if we just chalked it up to being nothing more than a one night stand – just…the two of us giving into the one thing we’d always wanted – then everything would go back to normal. Except it didn’t even go back to normal ‘cause it just made everything in my head even worse and I couldn’t stop thinking about it – about  _you_.

"And then Louis was trying to set you up with Katie and I could tell you genuinely liked her – not just that you wanted to hook up with her and, well, I  _really_  didn’t want you to go home with her.”

Harry blushes, looks down at where his hands have gathered the fabric of his shirt between his fingers before looking back up at Niall.

"As far as everything else goes – the continuing to see other people, not wanting anyone to know – that had nothing to do with you, ok? And it definitely didn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’re a bloke. It was all me and  _my_  issues. I mean, yeah, you’re the only lad I’ve ever been with and that was a big deal but only for about a minute – and only because you’re the only lad I’ve ever been attracted to to begin with, you know?

"It’s not so much that I was in denial as much as it just…scared me. It scared me, Harry. That I could have all these feelings – for anyone, let alone for  _you_ , my best fucking friend – and not have any control of them. I could feel you creeping in, the way you always had, only it was worse because I was  _letting_  you where I’ve never let anybody else.

"I guess I just…I guess I thought that if I didn’t acknowledge it – if I didn’t tell anyone, especially mum – then it didn’t have to be a big deal. I thought if we could just  _be_  together and not have to worry about anything or anybody else then…it didn’t have to mean anything.

"But it means  _everything_ , Haz.  _You_  mean everything. And you deserve for everyone to know that. I’m ready for everyone to know that,” he finishes. He stares at Harry with bated breath, finds himself waiting rather impatiently for Harry to react, to respond. His heart feels like it’s beating faster than everything and his stomach feels like it’s jumped up into his throat, which would explain the little ball of nerves making it hard for his to breathe.

This is it. This was all he had planned to say – all he  _could_  say. This is everything he’s ever thought and everything he’s ever tried to hide, bared to Harry. He feels like he’s holding his heart out in his hands, offering to give it to Harry to keep safe and hoping – praying – that Harry won’t hand it back. He just really hopes that Harry still wants  _this_. “Say something,” he pleads.

Harry blinks, tilts his head slightly to the side. “A-are you sure?” he asks carefully, his voice sounding timid and uncertain.

Niall smirks. “It’s a bit late for that, Haz, considering Louis obviously knows and I already told mum,” he reveals with a soft laugh.

Harry stares at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly open – in awe. “What? You did?”

Niall’s smirk widens as he nods.

"When?”

“This morning - or, I guess, early afternoon,” the blond replies. “She knew something was wrong, knew we had a fight and we talked a bit about you and how you can never stay mad at me and then it just slipped out. I told her everything she needed know and, as it turns out, she already knew.”

“S-she did?”

Niall shrugs. “Apparently both me mum and nan knew how we both felt all along. Mum knew I’ve been in love with you for years and she told me she could tell something was different when we both went back home for the funeral. She was just waiting for me - for both of us, I reckon - to tell her.”

Harry remains silent for a moment, looks a bit contemplative as Niall’s words set in. And Niall waits, patiently, for Harry to let everything process. It had taken Niall years, after all, for him to register how he  _truly_  felt. “And you’re  _sure_? You’re sure you’re ready for this?” he wonders again.

Niall kisses him, pushes Harry back against the arm of the couch as he crawls into Harry’s lap, his legs straddling either side of Harry’s thighs. His hands come up to curl around the back of Harry’s neck whilst Harry’s arms curl themselves instinctively around his waist. “For someone who, just a little while ago, came barging in here to snog me, you sure ask a lot of questions,” he teases, his lips brushing slightly against Harry’s.

“I just want to be sure that we’re on the same page n-”

“‘m sure,” Niall insists one more time, pressing a chaste kiss to Harry’s lips. “I’ll take you on a  _date_ tonight, if you want,” he murmurs and follows it up with another kiss. “I’ll call Anne in the morning.” Another kiss. “I’ll invite the lads over when mum goes back home to tell them and then we can snog right in front of them to make up for lost time.”

Harry snorts. “‘m pretty sure they already know from that Instagram post,” he points out.

“Oh, right; forgot about that,” the blond mutters, looking thoughtful for a moment. A mischievous smile tugs at his lips, then, and he presses his forehead against Harry’s. “We’ll just have to make out even more, then.”

Harry giggles, pulling Niall in to kiss him. He licks his lips when he pulls back a minute later, relishes in the taste of Niall’s mouth. “D’you think we could postpone our date until tomorrow?”

Niall raises an eyebrow. “You want to hang out with my mother tonight, don’t you?”

Harry nods, an excited, almost child-like grin spreading across his lips. “I didn’t get to last night.”

“And who’s fault was that?” Niall teases.

“Yours, actually.”

Niall can’t help the instinctive flinch that follows as he looks down between them.

“Hey,” Harry murmurs, tugging gently at the front of Niall’s shirt. “I forgive you.”

“Then I guess I owe you, huh? And me mum; she wasn’t very happy that it was  _my_  fault you left.”

As if on cue the front door opens and Maura walks into the front hall. Several things happen, then: both Harry and Niall untangle themselves, Niall crawls out of Harry’s lap, Harry turns almost all the way around to face Maura and Maura’s entire face lights up, her gaze settling on Harry’s face.

"Hii, sweet cheeks!” she coos, closing the door behind her. She’s holding loads of shopping bags in each hand, which she drops at her feet, before joining them in the living room.

Harry grins and pushes himself to his feet to accept her welcoming hug.

“I’m so sorry my son was such an eejit,” she murmurs into the curls behind his ear, which makes him laugh.

Niall rolls his eyes as he, too, pushes himself to his feet. “Thanks, mum,” he says dryly.

Maura pulls away first, laughs when Harry continues to cling to her, face buried in her neck.

“You two are ridiculous,” Niall scoffs teasingly as he slips past them both and makes his way into the kitchen.

“Niall’s just jealous because he knows he has to share you for the rest of the week while I’m here,” Maura says, patting the small of Harry’s back as the follow him.

“Damn right I am,” Niall replies, grabbing three water bottles out of the fridge. He hands one to his mother, another to Harry and then places his own on the counter as he glares, playfully, across the island at Harry. “He’s already ditched going on a date with  _me_  tonight so we could spend time with _you_.”

"At least he knows his priorities,” Maura retorts.

Harry snorts, rolling his eyes affectionately when Niall sticks his tongue out at him.

“Now, how do you boys feel about Thai?”

“I’m up for anything provided you’re paying,” Niall’s quick to respond.

“Thai sounds lovely, Maura,” Harry replies politely.

“Alright then. I’m gonna go change and if you lads want to get ready to go we’ll leave soon, yeah?”

“Thanks, mum,” Niall murmurs genuinely as she leaves the room. He looks at Harry, then, who’s staring back at him, smiling contently. “You’re too nice to her,” he says, sauntering around the end of the island to stand in front of Harry. “This is why she almost doesn’t leave when she comes to visit.”

Harry snorts, rolling his eyes affectionately. “You love when she’s here and you miss her when she’s not. Don’t deny it.”

Niall narrows his gaze and Harry challenges him with raised eyebrows before they both erupt into a small giggle-fit and Niall tugs Harry towards him with the belt loops on his jeans. “You know what else I love?”

Harry presses his forehead down against Niall’s. “Say it,” he whispers.

“This,” Niall murmurs. “Us.  _You_.”

Harry takes a deep breath, his fingers playing absentmindedly with the fabric of Niall’s shirt. He looks down, for a minute, at his fingers and then back up to look Niall in the eye. “Are we really doing this?”

Niall smiles softly, nudging his nose gently against Harry’s. “If you’ll still have me.”

Harry nods – because how could he not? It just all seems to be happening so fast.

"I can’t promise that it’s gonna be perfect. Or that I’m gonna be any good at it. But just…bear with me, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Harry breathes.

Niall chews at his bottom lip as he lets out a shaky breath of his own. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Harry whispers – before sealing it, sealing everything, with a kiss.


End file.
